"The Tiger's Wife: A Novel" by Téa Obreht
Jeff Glor talks to Téa Obreht about "Tiger's Wife."
Jeff Glor: What inspired you to write the book?
Téa Obreht: A few elements of my life combined, actually. I moved to Ithaca, where I (inexplicably) began to write stories about people who are snowbound, and was then further prodded in this direction by a National Geographic episode about Siberian tigers. My grandfather's recent death, with which I was struggling to cope, provided a very strong emotional trigger, and transformed a shaky story about a young boy who observes the interactions of a deaf-mute circus performer and her escaped tiger into a much broader project. Above all, I think, I was asking a lot of questions about death, about loss, and the way we inherit stories.
JG: What surprised you the most during the writing process?
TO: I was stunned by the lack of control I had over certain aspects of plot and character. I had always admired writers who claimed to be able to develop a character and then follow him or her down a naturally-unfolding narrative path--I myself have always been a "make an outline and stick to it" kind of person, and assumed I would continue to be one as I wrote the novel. But a lot of elements--plot points, characters' lives and preoccupations--got away from me pretty quickly. Ultimately, the book I wrote was entirely different from the one I set out to write.
JG: What would you be doing if you weren't a writer?
TO: Writing was always the only thing I ever wanted to do, but I did indulge a brief flirtation with the idea of being a zoologist or wildlife photographer on the side. When I realized this would entail getting all sorts of immunizations and eating lots of tinned processed stuff and living in a sleeping bag, I gave it up. Studying at Cornell exposed me to teaching, however, which I truly love, and to which I hope to return someday.
JG: What else are you reading right now?
TO: I just finished "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet," by David Mitchell, which was as wonderful as everyone I know told me it would be--I didn't want it to end. I'll be in Europe for the beginning of June, and am almost inevitably rereading Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" to get in the mood for Paris. Then I'll be coming home to finish Chad Harbach's amazing debut, "The Art of Fielding."
JG: What's next for you?
TO: A summer full of writing, I hope. It's been strange to step away from my work for the very concrete reason of my book tour rather than just pure, unabashed procrastination and being unable to find time to write has made me miss the everyday rhythms of it in a new way. I can't wait to get back to the desk.
For more on "Tiger's Wife," visit the Random House website.
